Buying or selling a used car between private parties is not the same as walking out of a dealership. There is no title clerk at the desk. The keys, the money, and the paper often change hands in a parking lot. The people who regret that afternoon usually treated the paperwork as an afterthought.
This checklist is for U.S. private sellers and buyers of used vehicles. It is a packing list for the meeting — not legal advice and not a substitute for the forms on your motor vehicle agency’s website. Record of Sale is software that helps two parties assemble a structured packet. We are not a DMV, escrow, dealer, or law firm. Stripe charges, if you use the product, are a software fee only. We never hold the purchase funds.
What a bill of sale and a Record of Sale packet actually are
A bill of sale is the private contract of the deal: who sold what to whom, for how much, on which date, with which identifying details. A Record of Sale packet is that idea taken seriously — the bill of sale plus the supporting evidence you will wish you had if a payment bounces, a VIN is questioned, or a state agency asks what happened on transfer day.
The packet is not a title. It does not register the vehicle, release a lien, or replace the wet-ink signature many states still expect on the physical title. Official forms still open on government sites. If a form is printed on security paper (California’s REG 262 is the usual example), a software product should not pretend to generate it. Keep the packet as the private file: identities, vehicle facts, odometer, photos, payment records, and a checklist of the public steps that still belong to you and the state.
1. Identity for both parties
Do this before anyone drives away.
- Government-issued photo ID for seller and buyer. Match the name on the title, or bring the name-change document your state asks for.
- Current mailing addresses and a reachable email for each party. A disappearing phone number is a sale you cannot reconstruct.
- Confirm you are dealing with the person named on the title — or someone who can legally sign for that owner. If the story and the paper do not match, stop.
Record of Sale requires both emails so the packet is not an anonymous gallery. That is a product rule, not a DMV rule. Your state may still want ink on a title after in-app signatures.
2. Title, lien, and the right to sell
The title is the public document. The bill of sale is the private one. You need both stories to agree.
Have the title in hand — or a documented path to it
Read the assignment area before you meet. Mileage and sale-price blocks are painful to correct once they are filled in wrong. If the title is lost, out of state, or electronic-only, look up that path on the issuing state’s site before you advertise a same-day handover.
Clear the lien, or do not close
If a lender is still named, you generally cannot complete a clean transfer until the lien is released or the lender is part of the closing. Ask for a written lien release — not “the loan is almost paid.”
Match the paper to the car
Compare names, VIN, year, make, and model on the title with the vehicle in front of you. A single-character VIN mismatch is a stop sign. Wet-ink is the default for title assignment unless you have confirmed that a private-party e-title portal applies. In-app e-sign on a Record of Sale packet does not complete a title transfer.
3. Odometer disclosure
Federal and state odometer rules still matter on most used-car transfers, especially below the exemption thresholds your state publishes. Record the mileage on the day of sale, in daylight, with the ignition on. Photograph the cluster so the reading is tied to the VIN plate and the same car. If the title or a separate statement has a disclosure box — actual mileage, in excess of mechanical limits, not actual — fill the box that matches reality. Exempt vehicles still deserve a written mileage note in the private packet.
4. Payment records — the driveway is not a bank
Private-party payment is where careful people get sloppy. Cash in an envelope or a screenshot of an app payment to a similar name will not reconstruct well six months later. Gather or create:
- The agreed price, in writing, before anyone arrives with a cashier’s check.
- The method: a cashier’s check verified with the issuing bank, a wire, or another method both parties accept. Treat a personal check as not sold until it clears.
- A receipt that restates price, date, VIN, and the last six of any payment instrument.
- A note if the sale is as-is (most private used-car sales are) and any deposit already paid.
Record of Sale never holds the purchase price. If you pay a software fee to generate a packet, that charge is separate from the money that moves between buyer and seller. Do not wire the car’s price to a software company, and do not assume a sealed packet means the funds were escrowed. They were not.
5. Photos that prove which car changed hands
A written VIN is necessary. Photos of this car, on this day, are what make the writing hard to argue with. At a minimum, shoot all four sides plus three-quarter views; the VIN plate (dash and door jamb if both exist); the odometer; the title (crop sensitive data on shared copies); and any damage you are disclosing.
Take the photos at the meeting, not from last month’s listing. A Record of Sale Full Packet is built around that evidence idea — required photo slots, dual review, then a seal. A camera roll works the same way. The point is a contemporaneous record, not a pretty listing.
6. Same-state sales versus interstate handovers
A same-state sale is already a checklist. An interstate sale is two checklists that have to be compatible.
Same state
Confirm the seller’s release-of-interest or notice-of-sale step, the buyer’s registration and title application window, any smog or safety inspection, and whether plates stay with the seller. Those steps are on your state DMV (or equivalent) site, not in a blog post.
Interstate
The exporting state’s exit steps and the importing state’s entry steps are different offices. Typical extra questions:
- Does the buyer’s state require an inspection before it will title an out-of-state vehicle?
- Does the seller’s state want a notice of sale so the seller is not left on the hook for tickets or liability after the car leaves?
- Is there a use-tax or title-fee difference the buyer should budget for?
- Is the title paper, electronic, or branded (salvage, rebuilt, lemon)? Brands travel.
Record of Sale publishes researched corridor checklists for some state pairs (for example California to Oregon) and same-state packs for a limited set of states. Those checklists summarize published materials and link out. They are not a filing. Confirm every step on the government page.
7. After the keys: the public follow-up
Handing over the keys is the private close. The public close is the filing your state still expects.
In most states, some mix of the following still sits with the parties:
- Seller: file a notice of sale or release of liability within the window the state publishes.
- Buyer: apply for title and registration, pay taxes and fees, and complete any inspection.
- Both: keep copies of the title assignment, bill of sale, odometer disclosure, and payment record until the new title issues — and after.
We cannot file those for you. We are not a DMV filing service. A sealed SHA-256 hash of a private packet is an integrity mark on the file you assembled — not a blockchain title, and no agency has to “accept” it. If a payment bounces or a VIN does not match, you want the paper and the photos dated before the car left. That is why the documents come before the keys.
A one-page packing list
Before you meet
- Photo ID, emails, and addresses for both parties
- Title in hand, or a documented path for a duplicate, e-title, or out-of-state title
- Written lien release if a lender is named; price and payment method in writing
- Insurance for the drive-away — the buyer’s policy, not a handshake
At the meeting
- VIN, mileage, and title names checked against the car
- Odometer photo and disclosure; six-side and damage photos
- Bill of sale / Record of Sale packet; wet-ink title assignment if the state requires it
- Payment receipt
After
- Seller’s notice of sale or release of liability; buyer’s title and registration application
- Official forms from government sites only; copies stored by both parties
Start from a structured packet if you want the file already laid out
If you would rather not invent the folder structure on the hood of the car, start a Record of Sale packet. The default Full Packet is $49; there is also a $29 Record of Sale tier and a $79 Interstate Plus tier. See Pricing. The fee is software only. You still do the state steps and still move the purchase funds yourselves.
Read this as a checklist, not as counsel
This article is general information for U.S. private-party vehicle sales. It is not legal advice and not a promise that any motor vehicle agency will accept a private packet. Title documents often require wet-ink signatures. Official forms live on government websites. Confirm the current rules for the states on your deal. Product questions — not title questions — can go to legal@recordofsale.com.